Rugby Most Superb in the land of the long white cloud, TYOOL 2022 edition, now with 20% more Pasifika!

[cashead]

1. Aidan Ross (Chiefs)
2. Kurt Eklund (Blues)
3. Fletcher Newell (Crusaders)
4. Luke Romano (Blues)
5. Josh Lord (Chiefs)
6. Ethan Blackadder (Crusaders)
7. Tom Christie (Crusaders)
8. Ardie Savea (Hurricanes)
9. Finlay Christie (Blues)
10. Beauden Barrett (Blues)
11. Caleb Clarke (Blues)
12. Akex Nankivell (Chiefs)
13. Rieko Ioane (Blues)
14. Julian Savea (Hurricanes)
15. Will Jordan (Crusaders)

[J Dory]

That was worth waking up at 3am for, Dalton Papalii is the man.

[zer0]

Crusaders given a thorough spanking. A dozen of the best, trousers down. Great to see Auckland Blues legend and undefeated captain Luke Romano not putting up with these local whipper snappers getting up to any nonsense on his lawn.

[morepork]

Once every two decades seems about fair.

[Cameo]

A bit late to the party here but that was a great game. That cover tackle! Every lock's nightmare being given a clear run to the line but not having the gas to make it!

[cashead]

We're now moving into the Australian leg of the competition. Some food for thought though, especially with the Highlanders. They've found themselves in the "routinely getting fucked by officials and every fixture against a fellow NZ franchise is a 16 v 15 affair" zone that the Blues were in for years, as Aumua's actions against Gareth Evans, in front of the referee, in his direct line of sight that not only went uncalled by Angus Mabey, but somehow missed by the TMO, raises quite a few questions.


I'd have preferred it if the fixtures were more mixed up, rather than having the competition played out in blocks, but hey, COVID's gonna COVID.


I'd be surprised if the outcome isn't going to be the usual. The Brumbies, Reds and for some reason, the Force will probably provide some stern tests of character for the NZ teams, and maybe even tip the a couple of them over over in 'Straya a couple of times, but I can't really see it being anything other than one-way traffic overall, to be honest.

[Cameo]

Week one kinda went as expected though a good win for the Brumbies against an underperforming Highlanders.

The competition should have a better feel to it next year when the fixtures are more mixed up. At the moment, you feel all the NZ teams will surge up the table in the next few weeks.

Only need to be in the top 8, which is an issue. I hope over time they at least move to playoffs of the top 6 with the top two going straight through to a semifinal.

[cashead]

Nah, just revert to the old Super 12 system of Top 4 or bust.

[morepork]

So what’s the barometer for AB potency here? Crusaders got bullied off the ball (which seems a template for recent AB losses) while the Bloos seem to have a more dynamic response to confrontation. Have the Bloos finally left behind the 90’s where their infrastructure was defined by school zone? I hope so.

[cashead]

JK's form ABs pack has an all-openside loose trio of Papali'i, Cane and Savea, with D-Paps playing Kaino. Honestly, it's something that we've missed since Owen Franks' twilight years at the test level - someone that is like

Opposition: *exists*

"And I took that personally."

[morepork]

What about locks? White lock and Retalika are getting on. I really like the cut of DP’s jib. The Irish visit will tell us a lot about how we adapt to these annoying Northern heathens.

[cashead]

At lock, the big performers have been the Chiefs trio of Tupou Va'ai, Naitoa Ah Kuoi and Josh Lord, while Luke Romano has found a whole new lease of life for the Blues, and Josh Dickson has been consistent for an otherwise dysfunctional Highlanders outfit.

At loosehead, Hodgman and Bower have been a consistent performers for the Blues and Crusaders respectively, and Aidan Ross should absolutely be near a call-up. God knows what more he can do, TBH.

At hooker, it's the uncapped veterans that have been most noticeable. Kurt Eklund has been one of the form 2s in the competition so far, at age 30.

At tighthead, it's hard to look past Ofa, Angus Ta'avao and the Irishman, Oli Jager who has been plugging away and doing all that is asked of him.

Pita Gus Sowakula of the Chiefs has also been in sensational form, and can cover 6 and 8. D-Paps and Sam Cane have both been excellent form, while Ardie must be exhausted from carrying the Hurricanes like he has this season. Tom Christie has also been excellent for the Crusaders, but he's probably a victim of the depth at loose forward.

At halfback, it's hard to look beyond Smith, Finlay Christie and Brad Weber. It helps that Smith is probably already among the all-time great 9s for the ABs as is, while Christie and Weber are playing behind strong packs.

At 10, Beauden Barrett is by far the best five-eighth around. Gatland has his moments, but he's also had a few bad days at the office, even if he's the platonic ideal of a percentage-play 10. Mo'unga is doing well too, but he was definitely second-best when the Crusaders played the Blues, and as much as Mitch Hunt and Marty Banks are fun to watch, they've struggled in a poor Highlanders outfit. Ruben Love is someone worth keeping an eye on as a long-term prospect, while Stephen Perofeta seems to have finally gotten "it" as a 10/15.

At midfield, Alex Nankivell has been a quiet achiever for the Chiefs, but you'd want someone that can bust through the line there, like Julian Savea (who apparently has ambitions to be a 12) or Leicester Fainga'anuku. Other than that, Rieko has been in excellent form for the Blues, and RTS is getting better in an otherwise disrupted acclimatisation to rugby union.

In the back three quarters, other than the usual suspects, Etene Nanai-Seturo is starting to live up to the hype that surrounded him after a few years at the Chiefs, and Zarn Sullivan is another quality long-term prospect.

[morepork]

Well the Bloos are looking pretty capable of lacerating defences right now. They even extend charity to ginger people scoring.

[J Dory]

Jordan, Clarke, Beauden and Ioane, that would be a seriously pacey backline that I hope we see for the ABs. 12 and 14 up for grabs for me.

[Cameo]

At 10, despite having always been a massive BB fan, I would actually go for Mounga. I think the articles suggesting he has never performed on the international stage are pretty unfair. They basically discount any game that the ABs have won. I get that easy wins are easy to perform well in, but sometimes he has been pretty central to it being an easy win. The argument also takes the sample size down to about 3 games. BB's kicking from hand has been a bit average for me this season too.

At 9, Fakatava has come with some hype but I think the last few weeks off the bench he has been living up to it. Wouldn't be surprised to see him get a shot even if he hasn't been one of the three best 9s so far. Equally, TJ always seems to get a shot though I think his time has come and gone.

[morepork]

Sooo....gotta be Bloos as favourites, no?

[cashead]

On paper, yes.

The Chiefs have the capacity to surprise, and they'd also have reason to go into matches with the Crusaders with some confidence on their end.

It'll be interesting to see how the Blues will go against the Brumbies at Eden Park this weekend as well. Last time round, the Brumbies were given way too many sweetheart calls by the ref, where they were given license to basically lie all over the ball and obstruct the halfback. If they end up with a referee that is simply not going to tolerate their shit at the breakdown, they run the risk of being whistled out of the game.

[morepork]

They gave it a good go, but sit down Hamiltron. Crusaders adopting a bit of cynical play to contain threats. Pablo takes another hit for team cynical. A tasty stand off at 10 beckons if the Bloos and Bouncy castle do meet up.

[cashead]

The Chiefs were also very poor on attack. It was entirely predictable, Warrenball stuff that just doesn't have much of a success rate against Aussie and NZ opposition - hit up, ruck, pass, hit up, ruck, pass, hit up, rinse repeat.

That said, Ta'avao, IMO was the form NZ-based tighthead in the competition and he had a great game. I've been a fan of Oli Jager as well, so I hope he gets a call-up. He's definitely earned it this year. He's too good to leave out of the team, and would definitely go some way in addressing some of the scrummaging issues the ABs have had.

[zer0]

Not often you get to thoroughly spank the Cantabistani twice in a season. Looking forward to it.

[Cameo]

Very impressive from the Crusaders (as ever). Played to the conditions without losing too much ambition and didn't let the Blues have a sniff (apart from a strange try from Scotland:s finest, Christie)

[cashead]

Oh, was there a game last night?

[J Dory]

What the hell happened to the Blues lineout? For the Cru, kicking to touch was guaranteed meters and possession. Shame, would have liked to see more of a back and forth battle. Well done the Cru, but strange (and disappointing) game in the end.

[cashead]

Sam Whitelock read it like a book, and I'm going to guess that there was a lot of second-guessing and panic through the ranks. At one point, it wasn't th hooker, but the lifters getting shit wrong as well (namely, the one where Romano looked down and started yelling at his lifters).

There was also a lineout where O'Keeffe, the AR and the TMO all failed to recognise that Cullen Grace had played Tom Robinson in the air, but that didn't really affect the outcome.

Honestly, I don't get why James Tucker wasn't named, considering his excellent form this season.

[Cameo]

Yeah, was real panic mode in the lineout. Almost like they had to resort to making up new moves on the fly. I've been an advocate of moving on from Whitelock but may need to re-evaluate!